Powell still hasn’t missed a three as starter! This wasn’t a huge offensive show for Powell, but he was huge when the Raptors made a run in the first half, and the beginning of the third quarter. In the fourth, he wasn’t as great, picking up some fouls down the stretch. Norman played well again and will be huge for the Raptors moving into the second round.

Didn’t get a ton of run tonight, playing only 13 minutes. Got bumped in the rotation tonight for increased minutes from Patterson. Made two threes at key times, but continued to struggle on the defensive end. This just wasn’t Carroll’s series.

Didn’t have his shot going tonight, finishing the game with 7 points, on 2/6 shooting, 1/3 from deep. His defense in the first half was much better than it was in the second half. Pulled down 11 rebounds, but wasn’t his best in the fourth quarter. Ibaka was great this series, his defense against the Bucks was huge, and had some great scoring games, it will be interesting to see what he can bring to the table in the next round.

This wasn’t Lowry’s best scoring night, finishing the game with 13 points on 5/9 shooting. But Lowry did everything else on the floor, found teammates with 4 assists, played great defense even when he was mismatched, drew charges, and scored effcientely.

DeRozan was unbelievable tonight! It seemed like anytime he went to the basket no matter how much contact he got, he scored. That dunk in the final minute of regulation was clutch! He was also excellent at recognizing the double teams, and setting up his teammates. This was his best game of the series by far, as DeRozan did a lot of the heavy lifting offensively.

Tucker’s had another great defensive game tonight. His offense was never there for him this series, but was tasked to check the Bucks best scorers in Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Khris Middleton. Got into foul trouble with some very questionable calls late down the stretch, and his defense was missed when he was forced off late.

Had a really really good stretch in the first quarter when Ibaka got into foul trouble. Playing some great defense on Greg Monroe, scoring nicely in the pick and roll, staying aggressive on the offensive end, and pulling down five quick rebounds. When he came in at the end of the third quarter, the Bucks went on a big run. Valanciunas’ defense wasn’t great during that stretch, as the Bucks scored a ton of points around the rim. Still another good showing off the bench for him.

Cory was very very bad for a large part of this game. Came into the fourth quarter when Powell got into foul trouble, and changed the game in a big way. Made a HUGE three, and some clutch free throws when the Raptors couldn’t buy a bucket. This wasn’t a great series for Joseph, maybe his size and game didn’t match up well against the Bucks, but late down the stretch tonight he came through for the Raptors.

Played five minutes in the start of the second quarter, and was impressive in his short amount of time. Had a really nifty pump-fake on John Henson, and did a good job facilitating the offense.

B

Dwane Casey

Stuck to his game plan for much of this one, had some interesting lineups down the stretch when fouls became an issue. Called some well-timed timeouts tonight when the Bucks were going on a run, halting the runs from getting uglier.

Things We Saw

DeMar DeRozan was huge tonight, I can’t get over how good he was. From tip-off he came out attacking, carrying the Raptors offense for a majority of the game. Got a lot of his points attacking the rim tonight, and was huge on the dunk that sealed the series.

This game was really tense.. The Raptors had a 23 point lead in the third quarter, that evaporated in the fourth with the Bucks taking a two-point lead in crunch time. The Raptors would finish out the game with some inspiring play, but they never seem to make things easy. Giannis was huge this series, and I fear what he will do in the future to this Eastern Conference

I’m still very confident that this is the best Raptors team of all-time. The semis against Cleveland will be a great test, and will hopefully be a tighter series compared to last year’s Eastern Conference Finals.

Norman Powell feels like a son to me…a much larger and stronger son. He makes me proud as a Raptors fan. After many blown draft picks in the franchise’s history, Norm is found money in the second round. This is the second year in a row that he has helped to save a lethargic Raptors team. Hitting threes, chasing shooters around screens, blocking Middleton out of nowhere on a jumpshot attempt, etc. Norm fills me with pride, and was easily the best wing on Toronto tonight.

Carroll has struggled throughout the series, but had some huge plays tonight. The first quarter alone saw him get a steal off a Bucks defensive rebound, and follow it up shortly after with a huge offensive rebound allowing the Raptors to reset. He even hit his open shots, and a tough and-one jumper early in the third to help stabilize his team. This was his best playoff in a Raptors uniform.

He is everything that Raptors’ fans and Masai Ujiri could have hoped for when he was acquired at the deadline. He was draining threes, had two huge dunks over Giannis (a feat I would have assumed was physically impossible) and made life incredibly difficult for the Bucks to score inside. He was elite, and Masai got him for Terrence Ross and the 25th pick.

His sore back seemed to be bothering him at the start of the game, but he looked more like himself after a rest to start the second quarter. Didn’t need to do too much, but the Raptors were better with him on the court as he was a team best +29.

A very different game than we saw from DeMar on Saturday night. He wasn’t called upon to be a dominant scorer, but made quick passes out of double-teams that forced the Bucks to scramble. This was his best game in terms of avoiding getting trapped.

This was as good of a two point game that you can find, particularly when you realize that he didn’t score until early in the fourth quarter. Along with Powell he was a big part in slowing down Khris Middleton. With Carroll stepping up he had less of a role in guarding Giannis, but remains a huge reason for the defensive effort we’ve saw overall.

He blocked Tony Snell at the rim which brought a smile to my face, but he also gave up the opportunity for a wide open three pointer which hurt my feelings. The third quarter saw him come up with a huge block where he flipped Greg Monroe over his back afterward. He also didn’t back down (or do anything stupid) when Greg Monroe tried to start something.

The big news though for Jonas is that he added Thon Maker to his list of pump-fake victims.

He was just kind of there on offense, and wasn’t particularly noticeable on that side of the ball outside of his regular pounding the air out of the basketball. He struggled defensively though, making the wrong rotation on a number of occasions (one of which got him chewed out by Tucker afterward) and lost Brogdon for a number of open threes.

Helped in guarding the perimeter on switches, but overall was an underwhelming game from Pat-Pat. Casey said pregame that minutes would be distributed between Pat, Carroll, and Tucker based on their performance, and Patterson found himself on the bottom rung of the ladder for most of the night.

Even though it was in garbage time, great to see Fred get some playoff run and hit a three while he was at it. Awesome accomplishment for an undrafted rookie who believed in his ability to make an NBA roster.

Not much happened during his time on the court, but had one nice challenge at the rim in recovery after some good lateral movement on the perimeter. I remain very excited about his future.

B

Dwane Casey

Casey’s big adjustment came in game 3. The Raptors are more dynamic with Powell starting and Ibaka at the five then they are with Jonas Valanciunas, and Jonas can’t keep up with the quicker Bucks. Ibaka was dominant and Powell was the best wing tonight for Toronto. Each time the Bucks went on a run Casey was able to help right the ship.

My big complaint on the night is Casey not getting Lowry to the bench earlier.

Things We Saw

Why can’t the Raptors design a nice playoff t-shirt? The one they gave out tonight had to be a rejected design for Roots, or possibly The Bay. Or they asked an artistic 8 year old to draw a leaf.

Giannis is terrifying. If you have to pick one player to build a franchise around for the next 5+ years, he is easily the top choice and it’s not particularly close. He is a consistent three point shot away from being unguardable, and that too is coming along.

The 2015 Draft saw Masai Ujiri trade General Greivis Vasquez to the Milwaukee Bucks for a 2015 second round pick and a 2017 Clippers’ first round pick. He used the second round pick for Norman Powell and traded the first round pick for Serge Ibaka. Thanks, Milwaukee!

Shout-out to Jack Armstrong for calling out fans who were not in their seats to start the second half.

]]>https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2017/04/24/quick-react-raptors-118-bucks-93/feed/0The ‘Change is Good’ gamehttps://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2017/04/23/change-good-game/
https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2017/04/23/change-good-game/#respondSun, 23 Apr 2017 13:00:44 +0000http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/?p=81573Dwane Casey and Norman Powell must have an interesting relationship. Powell was nowhere to be season for any stretches of important basketball during the first three games yet Casey tapped him on the shoulder in a start that surprised everyone for Game 4 in what felt like a must-win situation. He also started in place […]

]]>Dwane Casey and Norman Powell must have an interesting relationship. Powell was nowhere to be season for any stretches of important basketball during the first three games yet Casey tapped him on the shoulder in a start that surprised everyone for Game 4 in what felt like a must-win situation. He also started in place of Jonas Valanciunas as Casey opted to go small and inject a little more athleticism on both sides of the ball to counter the cyborgs the Bucks had morphed into.

The change worked, but only after Powell settled down and eased into his responsibilities as a starter. His first three plays of the game were a foul, missed dunk and another foul and it wasn’t until he drilled a three that you could see the lightbulb turn on. He finished the game with 16 points, four rebounds and four assists in an overall very effective start. He also knocked down all three of his attempts from deep and on a night the Raptors shot just five of 21 from beyond the arc.

Still, Powell’s effect on the offensive end wasn’t nearly enough to gloss over the fact that the Raps and Bucks were locked at 19-19 after the first quarter. The turnovers were ugly, the rim seemed half a size too small and if it weren’t for some jumpers from DeRozan and Middleton both teams would have barely touched the double-digit mark.

The second quarter didn’t offer anything more in terms of effective offence and it looked like the Raptors were on the verge of throwing away a strong defensive effort. From 10:57 left in the second quarter to 8:57 the Raptors failed to hit a field goal. A summary of their plays during that span goes like this:

The ball movement was stagnant again and if it weren’t for DeRozan playing a brand of hero ball that he all but guaranteed before the start of the game the Raptors would still be trying to hit a field goal. Deebo was massive for the Raps after a brutal performance in Game 3 and finished the half with 21 points and 33 for the game. Casey tried to give Lowry some rest during the second quarter but it resulted in a turnover party form Joseph and Wright and another ugly quarter of offence. Luckily for the Raptors the Bucks were no better and both teams headed to the locker room tied at 41.

The dreaded third quarter was actually where Toronto finally pulled ahead thanks to their two all-stars who finally played like two all-stars. A DeRozan pull-up bank shot and dunk sandwiched a lay-up and three from Lowry and the two were feeding off the energy of one another and it was downright beautiful to see after a long absence. DeRozan was still losing his man on defence but Tucker, Ibaka and Powell did enough to make up for it. They took turns getting up on Giannis, and the Greek Freak finished a lowly six of 19 from the field for 14 points and seven turnovers. The defensive effort was enough to give Toronto the lead despite shooting with their eyes closed.

The 4th quarter was honestly no different than the rest of the game and if you sat there and cheered on the clock to tick down when the Raptors had the ball you weren’t alone. There was one encouraging sign though: JV spent meaningful minutes on the court in the 4th quarter. No, that was not a typo. Used almost exclusively in matchups against Greg Monroe, Valanciunas used his hook shot to the tune of three of his five made baskets (he was a perfect 5/5 from the field) and Casey actually kept him on the floor. Monroe was arguably the Bucks’ best player and made easy work of JV on numerous occasions but the trust Casey showed in him and his offensive touch are hopefully a positive sign of things to come.

The Raptors held it down on defence long enough to escape with the win and now it’s a best out of three with two games at home. Bring it on.

5 Big Takeaways

DeMarre Carroll should come off the bench, or not at all. With everyone assuming Tucker may start in place of Carroll, it was actually Carroll who took the court at tip and promptly picked up where he left off. He couldn’t keep anyone in front of him or hit a shot and finished one of six from the field with two points, six rebounds and two steals in 19 minutes. It’s not working.

Patrick Patterson is a ghost. Either Casey forgot he has Patterson on his roster or his toe injury from Game 2 is bothering him more than he’s letting on. Seven minutes? He played 30 during that Game 2 win and the lack of playing time is head-scratching.

Cory Joseph can’t hang with the Bucks. His lack of dribble penetration is killer against the Bucks. Their length instantly overwhelm him and it’s like watching your best friend getting bullied while you’re held back. He played seven minutes and his only stats were three missed shots and two turnovers.
Casey’s gamble paid off. Everyone wanted his head after Game 3 and he responded with an all-in move. Starting Powell took a lot of guts, especially when he started off with two fouls but Casey kept with him and the move paid off.
Tony Snell is a killer. The ex-Bull (no surprise there) was huge for the Bucks again. He was seven of 12 from deep and five of 10 from beyond the arc. He’s now 13 of 26 from deep but if Tony Snell is going to beat you then I guess that’s that.

]]>https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2017/04/23/change-good-game/feed/0Where’s the Ball Movement?https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2017/04/21/wheres-ball-movement/
https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2017/04/21/wheres-ball-movement/#respondFri, 21 Apr 2017 15:00:37 +0000http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/?p=81493The Raptors aren’t dead yet. If you find yourself pacing the hallway at work this morning, replaying the worst game in franchise history just remember Toronto is down one game. They were embarrassed, humiliated, routed, crushed, overpowered and conquered but even a thesaurus can get tired describing the hurt the Bucks put on last night. […]

]]>The Raptors aren’t dead yet. If you find yourself pacing the hallway at work this morning, replaying the worst game in franchise history just remember Toronto is down one game. They were embarrassed, humiliated, routed, crushed, overpowered and conquered but even a thesaurus can get tired describing the hurt the Bucks put on last night. Still, there’s a lesson to be learned in any great defeat and Thursday’s Deer-on-Dinosaur violence is no different. Toronto needs to move the ball.

One glance at the team leaders from last night tells you all you need to know about Toronto’s inability to create shots. The Raptors handed out just 11 assists on 24 field goals. Cory Joseph led the team with three assists and was surpassed by the likes of Malcolm Brogdon (9), Khris Middleton (7) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (4). Even Greg Monroe dished out three helpers in the winning effort while Kyle Lowry finished the night with two.

The Raptors were always going to be challenged by the Bucks in this series but everyone’s fears came to full fruition last night when Milwaukee’s length dictated Toronto’s offence. The great advantage in having the ball in your hands should be the ability to conduct the play. The Raptors failed to make the Bucks change anything in their defence last night. The Raptors seemed content to run high-screens and camp out at the three point-line. With zero dribble penetration courtesy of another erratic Kyle Lowry performance and a down-right confused Cory Joseph, the Raps were left to toss up bricks from deep. Toronto finished a dismal 6-22 from beyond the arc and just 24-71 from the field overall thanks to a lack of ball movement.

Perhaps we should have seen this coming. Just like the “ambush that was expected”, so too were the Raptors’ struggle with moving the ball. During the regular season Toronto finished with an assist ratio of just 14.6 percent. For those keeping track, that’s a .1 percent improvement over the Phoenix Suns, who finished dead last in the same category this season. Perhaps this telling number was overshadowed by Toronto’s 6th ranked offensive rating during the year, or the far-too-leaned on excuse that Kyle Lowry missed a large chunk of the season.

Regardless, Toronto was stuck running the same version of their offence that kept them alive based almost solely on DeMar and Kyle’s ability to hit shots. When those shots didn’t fall thanks to an actual long team employing playoff-level defence, the Raptors panicked. They got stuck watching an iso-play unfold instead of cutting off the ball, creating a second pass to expose the weak side or even taking it hard to the basket. Those seconds of indecision were magnified last night, especially against a team as long as the Bucks. The amount of times Middleton, Antetokounmpo or Brogdon recovered to deny the high-screen will be playing on repeat in the Raptors’ minds leading up to Saturday afternoon.

Toronto’s biggest advantage was supposed to be their experience. It’s clear that the Greek Freak is the most talented player in this series, and any notion of him or the rest of this young team experiencing nerves was quickly wiped away in Game 1. Now the Raptors look like the inexperienced unit. They were overwhelmed repeatedly just trying to set up their offence, let alone execute it. While a large chunk has to fall on Casey the players themselves need to step up and trust each other. At least Casey recognizes what needs to change:

“It’s moving the basketball. The basketball will find the right person, and that’s what we’ve got to do,” Casey said. “That’s what (the coaches) have to sell the guys on: You have to move the basketball. You’re not going to dribble around them, you’re not going to outrun them or out-quick them, but the ball can beat speed and quickness. That’s what we did in Game 2, and that’s what we have to get back to. (Doug Smith)

While the theory is nice, we watched the practice explode last night. Toronto was either unable or unwilling to share the rock, or simply unprepared. The most concerning aspect from last night is the lack of time Toronto has to fix it. They need to improve from a team with the second-worst assist ratio percentage in the league to one that is capable of passing around some of the rangiest defenders in the NBA.

The Raptors have the experience to tie this series and make it a three game set with home-court advantage, but can they trust each other?

Talk about a Jekyll and Hyde performance. He couldn’t hit the broad side of the barn to start the game but finished with some huge threes in the second half. He shot his shot all night long as evidenced by the 15 field goal attempts and kept the Raptors’ momentum up with two huge back to back blocks on Thon Maker and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Imagine what life would be like without him on this roster? *shudders*

Carroll made up for his defensive woes…slightly. He finished two of three from deep but couldn’t get his free throws to drop again. He’s now just two of six from the charity stripe and looked downright soft on defense. It’s tough to grade a player when you have to guard the Greek Freak each night but man, it’s not even close.

JV did exactly what he needed to do. He exposed Maker with his size inside and when Greg Monroe came on he basically took a seat. He finished with another double double and was aggressive early. He had the crowd going with a big dive for a loose ball and continues to remind fans how important he is to this team being successful in the postseason.

One of the more frustrating Kyle Lowry performances to watch. One one hand he scored 18 more points than he did in Game 1 but on the other hand he almost threw away the game with head-scratching turnovers. He continues to flop and the refs have had enough. Almost any other player in the league would have drawn a foul on Giannis for the push-off at the end of the game, but not Lowry. Still, he hit an absolute dagger at the end of the game and this could be the return of KLOE.

An oddly quiet 23 points from DeRozan tonight. Made his shots from the line, got to the basket, and shot 50 percent against the octopus arms of the Bucks. Can Bucks have Octopus arms?! Either way he got it done and flew under the radar with the erratic play of Lowry and the shot-blocking/shot-making of Ibaka. We’re spoiled watching him every night and his shooting woes in the playoffs are starting to trend in the right direction.

Suffered a scary moment when he went to the locker room with his shoe off and limping but it turned out to just be a sprained right toe. He came back and made some quality “hockey passes” to set up big time shots. He constantly jumped passing lanes and disrupted the Bucks’ offense. The stats don’t often tell the whole Patterson story as we know by now and tonight was no different.

The Bucks did well to avoid Tucker for large stretches of the night but P.J. always finds a way to take your lunch money. Tucker played his role perfectly and watching him lock up The Freak despite giving up about three hundred feet in wingspan is truly inspiring. His energy is contagious and he laid it all out on a night the Raps needed to win.

Still struggles to create and finish shots on offense but had a nice drive late in the game that showed a ray of hope. He held on to the ball for too long again tonight and seems almost timid with Lowry back on the court. He shot well including three of four from deep though and any time CoJo is going to give you that shooting performance you’ll take it. Still made some brutal passes out of the paint and needs to adjust to the length of the Bucks.

A-

Dwane Casey

Casey adjusted to the Bucks’ transition game well tonight and constantly pushed the Raps to move the ball up the floor. It helped that the Raptors made shots tonight and he was forced to play Carroll a little more and Lowry a little less than he would have normally liked. Still, with everyone calling for his job after Game 1 he answered in a big way. Would have liked to see an actual play drawn up that didn’t result in a Lowry hail-mary to finish it off but hey, we’re splitting hairs here.

Things We Saw

Giannis is going to be a problem for the entire series. He’s the best player on the court and that goes a long way in the NBA. Wouldn’t be surprised if this goes seven games based solely on The Alphabet’s skillset. wow.

Those give away raptors shirts looked identical to the Red Wings logo from far away right? How have they not figured something out that people will actually wear again? Get Carroll to design it.

Lowry’s flopping is getting out of control and the refs are catching on. It felt he finished every drive or defensive stand on the floor and he’s only hurting his chances of getting a call further down the line at this point.

The Carroll experiment is over. He simply can’t keep up to premier wing players anymore and doesn’t have the size or athleticism to switch onto power forwards. He’s still a smart defender, but his role needs to be limited going forward.

]]>https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2017/04/18/quick-reaction-toronto-raptors-106-milwaukee-bucks-100/feed/0Game One and Passing Blamehttps://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2017/04/17/game-one-passing-blame/
https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2017/04/17/game-one-passing-blame/#respondMon, 17 Apr 2017 13:00:13 +0000http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/?p=81190This is getting tiresome, and it’s tough not to get frustrated at the Raptors inability to not suck at the start of a playoff series. It’s both frustrating and almost comical (you know, if it didn’t suck as much as it does) how they continually find new ways to fail to gain the initial momentum. […]

]]>This is getting tiresome, and it’s tough not to get frustrated at the Raptors inability to not suck at the start of a playoff series. It’s both frustrating and almost comical (you know, if it didn’t suck as much as it does) how they continually find new ways to fail to gain the initial momentum.

Losing game one was Kyle Lowry’s fault. It hurts to write that, as Kyle Lowry is normally over everything, but it is the simplest explanation for what happened. The Raptors simply can’t thrive when their best player scores 4 points on 11 shots, misses all 6 of his three pointers, only gets to the line one time, and registers a team worst -22.

This was Kyle Lowry’s worst game of the season, perhaps his worst as a Raptor, and it came at one of the worst possible moments. Even when Lowry struggles on offense, he can normally still impact the game on the other end of the court. Instead, Lowry was routinely beat off the dribble or lost his man off ball.

Granted, Lowry was far from the only problem in game one, as almost every Raptor struggled, but as the team plays off of Lowry their struggles are less surprising. As Milwaukee built their lead in the third quarter, there was clear panic among the Raptors on the court.

Shots were rushed and/or forced. Switches were done outside of a structure. Rebounders were not boxed out (although this was a problem throughout the entire game). And shooters were left wide open.

And I have no words left. Like many Raptors fans I basked in reading the many basketball analysts predicting a trip to the NBA Finals, but it felt strangely unsettling too. It was as if I was being set up for a bigger disappointment then I have experienced in my time as a Raptors fan.

In many ways, I feel like a neglected dog that doubts the kindness it is given, and needs to be reminded that there are nice things/people in the world.

Yes, this is melodramatic, but I don’t care. Saturday was full of anticipation of good things, and the Raptors crapped all over my dreams. Game one sucked, and if the Raptors can’t solve the numerous problems from game one then it could easily follow the same pattern.

As much as I blame Kyle Lowry for ruining my Saturday, I clearly share the blame for allowing myself to hope that this game one could be different.

The Raptors may not need Lowry to always be at his best, but they need him to at least be average if game two is going to be any different.

]]>This is a game that should be fairly meaningless in the grand scheme of things. The Toronto Raptors sit comfortably in 2nd place in the Eastern Conference, too far ahead of the pack to worry about being overtaken and far enough behind the Cleveland Cavaliers that a late season push to catch them seems unlikely. On the other side we will have the Milwaukee Bucks, whose high hopes to start the season have been dashed and are now a longshot to earn a playoff berth. On first glance t’s hard to ascribe any real meaning to the game for either team.

Beneath the surface we have the Bucks angling to prove that they could have been up there if a few things had broken their way this year and they have a roster full of hungry young players looking to show that they’re going to be a force next season. They’re currently riding a three game winning streak, led by a pair of young forwards who have been stuffing stat sheets since the all-star break in Giannis Antentekoumpo(20 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks per game) and Jabari Parker(21 points, 7 rebounds per game). They don’t have a lot to play for as far as the standings go but they have a chip on their shoulder and coach Jason Kidd has them competing hard.

The Raptors, on the other hand, are just trying to show that people can believe in them. After being on the wrong end of two consecutive 1st round upsets it seems like everything has aligned for them to have an easy path to the Eastern Conference Finals this year but lately their armor has shown a chink or two with some losses to teams they should handle easily and the defense being inconsistent at best. They don’t need to win to gain or hold ground in the standings but they’re obviously concerned about their current level of play – especially after last night’s loss – and at some point need to start winning games convincingly to show that they’re still deserving of their spot near the top of the conference.

The Raptors still have something to prove, not to the fans or the media but to themselves. The coaching staff is understandably concerned with the teams current level of play and the players are visibly frustrated by their struggles. When you have hopes of making a deep playoff run that’s the last thing that you want to be experiencing down the stretch. Even if there is no tangible proof that momentum matters as you enter the playoffs the Raptors can leave nothing to chance after the way the last two seasons have gone. They need to right the ship and show they can return to playing the defense they did in the first two months of the season, until they do that all of these seemingly meaningless late season games carry a greater importance than they need to. This is a bad thing because instead of resting stars and working out a kink or two in the offense or defense the Raptors are playing their stars more than ever and looking like they need major adjustments to their strategy, at least on the defensive end.

Injury Report

Raptors: Starting centre Jonas Valanciunas left last night’s game with a left hand contusion and did not return, his status is still unknown. DeMarre Carroll is still out and recovering from his knee surgery.

Bucks: Centre John Henson is set to return any day now from a back injury that has kept him out since 01/26/16 but Greivis Vasquez, Michael Carter-Williams and OJ Mayo remain out for the foreseeable future.

Player to Watch

Giannis Antentekoumpo has been a larger version of Russell Westbrook over the last few weeks, averaging close to a triple double now that a slew of guard injuries have forced the ball into his hands on offense. He’s a nightmare in transition because his long strides make it difficult to keep pace and his length makes it difficult to challenge his shot unless you’re waiting for him at the rim. In the halfcourt he struggles with his shot but he’s adept at scoring in the post, using his length to score over smaller defenders and his speed to go around anyone with enough size to bother him. The Raptors perimeter defense has been porous since the all-star break, going up against a star-in-the-making playing like he’s got something to prove could mean a long night for the Raptors and handful of highlight reel plays for the dynamic Bucks wing.

Three Keys for the Raptors:

Transition defense – the Bucks have an issue familiar to Raptors fans: they lack outside shooting in their halfcourt sets but their young, athletic wings make their transition attack deadly. The Raptors attention to detail on the defensive end has been lacking and they’ve had a tendency to either lose track of who they should be guarding or just straight up get beat down the floor. They need to put in the effort to ensure that they don’t let any Bucks slip out behind them and they need to communicate effectively so everyone knows who they’re supposed to be picking up. The Bucks don’t have the halfcourt scorers that the Raptors do, keeping the pace of the game down a bit will benefit the Raptors.

Build an early lead – this is a tough stretch for the Raptors, schedule-wise. It’s the first of a pair of home-away back to backs with one day off separating them – they played at home last night, in Milwaukee tonight then after a day of rest they play at Indiana and back in Toronto the next night. If they don’t give anyone a full night off it would be really beneficial for them to get up early, allow some of the fresher legs to get some minutes and rest overworked star Kyle Lowry.

Keep the ball moving – the Bucks have been an inconsistent defensive team this year but at least part of that has been due to the injury issues to Henson, who is an impact player for them in the paint. They’re a long, athletic team that can give a scorer like DeRozan a lot of trouble if they’re set when he’s trying to attack so it’s important for him to attack quickly and for the Raptors to keep shifting the defense by moving the ball and cutting. One on one play against this defense will get the Raptors nowhere.

Prediction:

If the Raptors rest DeRozan or Lowry the Bucks should run away with a fairly easy victory, if they play both of their star guards the Raptors will win another tight game against a subpar opponent.

]]>https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2016/03/15/gameday-raptors-bucks-march-15/feed/53Raptors win ugly in Milwaukeehttps://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2015/01/20/raptors-win-ugly-milwaukee/
https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2015/01/20/raptors-win-ugly-milwaukee/#commentsTue, 20 Jan 2015 14:00:51 +0000http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/?p=50270James Johnson DNP-CD, DeRozan goes scoreless, Terrence benched … and the Raptors won? I have no idea how the Raptors won. Seriously, how did the Raptors win despite being playing horrendously on offense? The Raptors shot just 40 percent from the field which includes just 6-of-24 shooting on 3-pointers. For good measure, they missed 10 […]

Seriously, how did the Raptors win despite being playing horrendously on offense? The Raptors shot just 40 percent from the field which includes just 6-of-24 shooting on 3-pointers. For good measure, they missed 10 free throws as well, because the struggle was just that real. Despite all that, the Raptors outlasted the Bucks to win 92-89.

Some of the credit has to go to the Bucks’ defense, which featured an endless line of skinny, long-winged defenders pressuring the ball at all times. The Bucks’ length forced the Raptors into taking difficult jumpers and forced 15 turnovers, five of which belonged to Valanciunas. Giannis Antetokounmpo made DeRozan’s life hell, holding him scoreless on nine empty field goal attempts. It was rough. There was a whole lot of this:

Kyle Lowry fared no better. He shot 8-of-25 and committed three turnovers against just three assists. His jumper abandoned him in the second half and he tried to take over late in the game, veering into heroball at times. Lowry eventually shifted away from jumpshots to attacking the basket at all costs, but it he looked exhausted which led to some silly decision-making. The odds were also stacked against him, as the Bucks packed the paint with athletic shot blockers.

Valanciunas had a strong showing in the first half, recording a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in 13 minutes. His defense was shaky to start, outwitted often by the veteran savvy of Zaza Pachulia, but Valanciunas did a great job of ending defensive possessions by snagging contested defensive rebounds. He was consistently stripped when operating off the post, as he still struggles immensely when faced with double-teams, but he mixed in a few put-backs to justify his time on the floor. In the second half, the Bucks played more smallball and Dwane Casey promptly countered with his own smallball unit. That left Valanciunas with just six minutes played in the third quarter and none in the fourth, but that’s nothing new.

DeRozan was a non-factor. He looked tired playing on the second night of a back-to-back and didn’t attempt a single shot inside the paint. Antentokounmpo did a fantastic job of bodying up on DeRozan as soon as he crossed into the midrange area (a technique perfected by Jimmy Butler in neutralizing DeRozan) and his size prevented DeRozan from playing out of the post. The end result was an ugly 0-for-9 from the field.

With so many of the Raptors’ pillars struggling, Terrence Ross emerged as the unlikely hero. Ross came off the bench for the first time since Dec. 9, 2013 and played like he took the demotion to heart. Unlike the last two weeks or so, Ross didn’t appear disinterested or timid, opting instead to drive the ball when he had the opportunity and hitting a pair of three-pointers. Ross also put his athleticism to good use, grabbing a few key defensive rebounds while using his quickness to keep abreast with the Bucks’ guards.

Most importantly, Ross nailed a clutch jumper with under a minute left to give the Raptors a lead they would not relinquish. Yes, you read that sentence right.

Credit should be given to the Raptors’ defense. The Bucks lack a dominant scorer and as a result, they rely heavily on spot-ups and running in transition. The Raptors did a good job on both regards, making hard closeouts out onto shooters. The smallball unit of Amir Johnson, Tyler Hansbrough and Patrick Patterson did a good job making timely rotations on the perimeter, while recovering diligently to collect rebounds.

The Raptors outrebounded Milwaukee 54-43, including a 20-11 margin on offensive rebounds which led to a number of second-chance points. The Raptors attempted 14 more field goals than Milwaukee and recorded 21 second chance points to the Bucks’s five. The Raptors rarely win the rebounding edge, but their bigs did enough to punish the Bucks for going small.

Ultimately, it’s an ugly win, which has to feel good for the squad. Although the score was tight and the offense was hideous, it has to come as a relief that they won in spite of everything that went wrong. Finally, it should be noted that James Johnson was curiously absent from the game, receiving a DNP-CD. After the game, Casey told reporters that it wasn’t a benching and that he just liked how the players in the rotation played, but that’s hardly enough reason to justify the benching of the Raptors’ fifth-most productive player this season.

One last parting shot:

Someday, Kenyon Martin will have to deal with being a 50 year old with a pair of lips tattooed on his neck. — William Lou (@william_lou) January 20, 2015

]]>https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2015/01/20/raptors-win-ugly-milwaukee/feed/64Playing spoiler to the Buckshttps://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2009/03/26/playing-spoiler-to-the-bucks/
https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2009/03/26/playing-spoiler-to-the-bucks/#respondThu, 26 Mar 2009 09:00:14 +0000http://raptorsrepublic.com/?p=6708Love that look. Bucks 106, Raptors 115 The Roll Call is all the post-game coverage you need but for habit’s sake, let’s complete the formality. An easy win over the Bucks which you just didn’t see coming. I was expecting to see some Bobcat-type hunger from Milwaukee but instead it looked like the Clippers had […]

The Roll Call is all the post-game coverage you need but for habit’s sake, let’s complete the formality. An easy win over the Bucks which you just didn’t see coming. I was expecting to see some Bobcat-type hunger from Milwaukee but instead it looked like the Clippers had just switched jerseys. For a team that’s spitting distance away from the playoffs and playing a beatable opponent, the Bucks sure did disappoint. The Raptors jumped on them early and then jumped on them some more in the second, played even in the third which meant the fourth was garbage time. As with every remaining game the result hardly matters and we’re looking for individual progress and something to cling on to for next year.

You have to start with Bargnani. Is he teasing us so we can build hopes over the summer only for them to be crushed by the return of VL? I sure hope not because right now he’s playing…dare I say it…#1 pick worthy basketball. When was the last time you could say that without someone calling you demented? Now the 23/2/2/2 with 3 turnovers isn’t jaw-dropping by any means but that line doesn’t tell you just how aggressive he was with and without the ball. He showed us his entire arsenal last night: baseline drives, curling drives, two-handed dribble post-ups and of course, threes. He used the ball-fake as well as he’s done all season and faked out Charlie V and Elson enough for them to exchange accusing looks. The 2009 Bargnani is the only Raptor that has the ability to consistently draw a help defender and thus force defensive rotations, Bosh used to be that player but not this season. His three wasn’t falling tonight and he missed some good looks otherwise he would’ve gone off for 40.

Bargnani’s movement after setting the high-screen has also improved, he was either finding a seam to the rim or stepping out to an open area, how many times he was found is a different issue. Earlier in the year he used to set that screen and go right to the top of the three-point line which made the pass harder for Jose and the recovery easy for the defender. In the first half he was always open after setting the screen because he cut hard and Charlie/Elson/Sessions weren’t communicating. Calderon missed him a few times (even though he has his hand up, like, all the time) but did hit him twice for scores, once recognizing a good mismatch on a smaller player.

Calderon started the game by having Session blow by him but after that it was all him. He had 19 points and 11 assists and I’m happy to say that those 11 assists were sweet, not just Bosh jumpers. The distribution went like this: 5 to Bargnani, 2 each to Bosh and Marion and one each for Kapono and Parker. He also found Marion and Parker on the break a few times off the early outlet but they happened to get fouled – the NBA needs to start keeping track of that stat, it’s getting lost in the mix. He took it to the rim in 1-1 and 2-3 situations as Parker, Bosh and Marion were making a much better effort to run ‘n gun and it resulted in 13 fastbreak points and as I said, it should’ve been more but for the FTs. Marion must’ve taken Jose aside at practice and communicated secret signals because those two were in-sync! The no-look alley-oop they executed was as nice a play the Raptors have run all season.

Charlie V never got going for them, he had some clumsy early turnovers and his shot looked cold, with no Redd in there the next man in line was Richard Jefferson and he finally went off against the Raptors. Jefferson had 12 of the Bucks’ first quarter points and was making Marion look average. Good hesitation material, a smooth jumper and a threatening slashing game have always made Jefferson a favorite of mine and if it weren’t for him this blowout would’ve started early. As it was we had to wait till the second quarter which was the best offensive quarter the Raptors have had all season. 40 points on 11/15 shooting and 12/13 FTs.

The Raptors hit 6 threes in the second quarter and it was an example of some great quarterbacking by Jose and some very unmotivated Bucks defense. Jose usually just passes to Bosh after the initial screen action but today he made an honest effort to look for Marion and Bargnani instead of Bosh who instead went directly to the rim to contest for rebounds. The result was a Bucks defense that had to pay attention to two other players instead of just Bosh. It helped that Marion and Bargnani did a good job of getting open by flashing to the mid-point area, elbow and by sealing off their man making the pass more obvious for Jose. Whatever it takes man, whatever it takes to get Jose to pass you the ball I’m all for it. Scott Skiles described his players’ inability to keep up with what the Raptors had going:

We’ve covered the stuff ad nauseam, as much if not more so than any other team in the league. I’m absolutely positive of that. The game started and we were behind their actions, we weren’t in front of them, we weren’t anticipating what was going on.

He’s right, the Bucks seemed a step too slow all night long, or at least when it ended up mattering which is in the second quarter.

Bosh assumed the role of garbage-man for this game, his rebounding and boxing-out was excellent, the only lapse that I noticed was when he failed to put a body on Charlie V and gave up a put-back dunk in the first. Other than that he was trying to get offensive rebounds, putting a body on his man and always helping on Sessions and Jefferson’s penetration (albeit sometimes unsuccessfully). When all five starters score at least 17 points you can get away with taking only 8 shots.

Here’s my take on Bosh’s personal issues. Leave him alone and stop writing about it. I’ve seen about 10 blog posts that are either questioning his character, questioning Feschuk’s professionalism, dissecting its impact on his game blah blah blah, who cares? Just give it a rest and let the man deal with his problems as I’m sure he will. This site has criticized the crap out of the guy but the last thing the man appears to be is unreasonable. Having said that, I always new big-forehead-girl was trouble.

Let’s play a game, it’s called Jason Kapono: Points or turnover? It’s pretty simple, all you have to do is pick whether Kapono, after coming off the bench, will either score first or turn the ball over first. So, what’s your pick? He was 4-7 for 14 points and 3 threes but did have 2 turnovers. So, what’s your answer? Well, if you answered “Points” you’re wrong. Kapono graced us with his presence at the start of the second quarter and at 11:07 of that quarter he threw a terrible pass. Folks, that’s been Jason Kapono: Points or turnover?, thanks for playing! A word about +/-. How does Bargnani who was arguably our best player tonight end up with a -2 and Kapono ends up with a +18? Well, it’s because Bargnani played in a garbage-time stretch of the fourth quarter where the Bucks knocked down 6 threes and Kapono didn’t.

Finally, Roko needs some playing time. 10 minutes in a blowout while Calderon and Parker get 38? That makes no sense and Triano needs to see things for what they are. He needs to literally free Roko and give him at least 25 minutes, if not at the expense of Calderon, than at Parker or Kapono’s. Shove him there with Jose if you have to and switch Jose to off-guard for a few minutes, does it really matter anymore?

The half-court shot for a million bucks literally rimmed out for the guy. That must suck.

Shawn Marion (17/9) was eying for the rebounds tonight, he even snatched one away from Jose. Probably knows this is a game that’ll get more than a boxscore on ESPN tonight because of its playoff implications.

So we put a dent in the Bucks’ playoff hopes. It doesn’t feel as good as I thought it would. Golden State has “overtaken” us for 7th worst and has a game and a half “edge”. League standings.

The girl who’s always doing the promotions at the ACC is pregnant.

I thought Charlie V’s foul on Marion could’ve been called a flagrant. No reaction from any of the Raptors, would’ve liked to seen one.

Nathan Jawai got in for 35 seconds and didn’t do anything. Literally.

Dwayne Wade missed a three that would’ve won the game. Check Moon’s smile at the end of the video here.

Here’s a picture taken before the game of Andrea Bargnani with Carolina Morace – the best Italian women’s soccer player. Ever.

17,401 my ass. That was one of the worst crowds this season. I though we were down 20 at one point.

Thanks for swinging by the site even though the season’s over. We appreciate every “rap”. Tweet tweet.

]]>https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2009/03/26/playing-spoiler-to-the-bucks/feed/0The Bucks are Backhttps://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2009/03/25/the-bucks-are-back/
https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2009/03/25/the-bucks-are-back/#commentsWed, 25 Mar 2009 13:20:38 +0000http://raptorsrepublic.com/?p=6680Who do we have on the schedule tonight? Ah, we’ve got the good ol’ Milwaukee Bucks back in town ready to throw down in another showdown. Does anyone remember the last time the Bucks came to town? I do. It was a Friday night back in January. I was at Philthy’s with a group of […]

]]> Who do we have on the schedule tonight? Ah, we’ve got the good ol’ Milwaukee Bucks back in town ready to throw down in another showdown.

Does anyone remember the last time the Bucks came to town? I do. It was a Friday night back in January. I was at Philthy’s with a group of friends ready to enjoy a very rowdy Raptor Fan Friday game party. The place was packed! Everyone was hyped because the Raps were playing at home; they were riding a 3-game winning streak and were only 1 game out of the 8th seed held down by the Bucks. This was the game every Raptors fanaddict expected the team win. Plus Milwaukee had just lost Michael Redd for the season. This was a supposed to be a no-brainer win for the Raps. Inside the bar, we were chanting “BEAT THE BUCKS” early and often. Than the game started. (Let’s get it on!) And what transpired over the course of the next two and a half hours epitomized the season.

Two months later, we’ve got the Bucks are back in town. (Oh joy).

This Bucks team has performed like a typical “fighting for a playoff berth down the stretch, but just don’t seem to have the necessary tools to make it this year”. Although they currently sit a mere two games out of the 8th seed, they are coming off a season-long 6 game home stand in which they went 2-4. They have also lost 11 of their last 15 games.Their current slump is due to the fact they’ve shot .417% over the past 10 games. Even though they’ve slumped in March, they still have a chance.

The Bucks still have a chance. After losing their two best players mid-season, they still have a chance. That’s nice.

As for our once-beloved Raptors, I find it funny how the players (Bosh) and coaches (Triano) were talking about making a playoff run after beating the Clippers, which happened to be only their second win in their past 11 games. Kids, playoffs and futility don’t mix. Even NBATV have dismissed the Raptors chances by not including them when discussing the race for the 8th seed in the East. “Now that’s real to a brother like me baby”.

Here’s a poignant fact. Both the Bucks and the Raps share the same road record 11-24, but at home, the Raps are 14-20 while the Bucks are 20-16. “If you don’t win at home, you don’t deserve to make the playoffs”.

Before we get into our match-ups, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Quincy Douby’s 10-day contract. If you don’t know much about his game, just think “fluid jump shooter”. But if you want to know more about the man behind the game, check out this 2-part documentaryof him after being drafted from Rutgers.

The injury report is thin but substantial for the Bucks: Redd and Bogut are out. On our end Banks and Humphries. Matchup time:

Calderon vs Sessions
The Edge: Calderon – Even though Sessions lit it up the last time we played and scored 40+ in a game about a month ago, I expect Calderon to continue his effective play making his lateral passes to our jump shooters and scoring assists from baskets made outside the painted area. That’s how it is.

Parker vs Mbah a Moute
The Edge: Parker – Parker’s playing for a contract now, so it’s time to the league that your off-balance 360 fade-away baseline jumper is money in the bank against even lesser competition! I don’t know much about MBah a Moute’s game, but I’m sure the fact he’s starting is a reason the Bucks are shooting less than 42% in their past 10 games.

Marion vs Jefferson
The Edge: Jefferson – Every time Marion has matched-up against an equally skilled opponent, he’s fizzled out. I’m looking for Jefferson to repeat Gerald Wallace’s performance. Sure he’s got a high standard to live up to, but I don’t expect Marion will be in formidable headspace to outplay RJ.

CB4 vs CV31
The Edge: CB4 – Nicknames, Twitter and baby-momma-drama issues aside, this is the match-up of the night! CV31 loves playing in Toronto. He always comes out hard in the first half of games, but back in January he played a complete game. Because I’m counting down the remaining days I expect to see CB4 in a Raptors uniform, I’m giving him my nod for the rest of the year.

Bargnani vs Elson

The Edge: Bargnani – Bargs is the team’s future franchise player and it’s players like Elson he has to beat on offence. Elson doesn’t have the tools or the talent on offence to have much on an impact. Look for Bargs to continue his strong play with another 20-6 game.

The line has the Raptors laying 3.5 I’m picking the Bucks by 5 – Sessions and CV31 take it to us again.

https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2009/03/25/the-bucks-are-back/feed/16Just when you thought we’d turned the corner….https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2009/01/31/just-when-you-thought-wed-turned-the-corner/
https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2009/01/31/just-when-you-thought-wed-turned-the-corner/#commentsSat, 31 Jan 2009 08:08:11 +0000http://raptorsrepublic.com/?p=4922Charlie V needs no motivation against the Raps Bucks 96, Raptors 85 Somebody come over here and slap me silly for thinking that the “red hot” Raptors would cruise at home against the Redd-less Bucks. A three game winning streak against Chicago, Sacramento and New Jersey wasn’t exactly highly impressive but it did signify one […]

Somebody come over here and slap me silly for thinking that the “red hot” Raptors would cruise at home against the Redd-less Bucks. A three game winning streak against Chicago, Sacramento and New Jersey wasn’t exactly highly impressive but it did signify one of the best stretches of ball we’ve played all season. So coming into this one you’d think the momentum, playoff hunger and desire to salvage this season would push them through against the Bucks on their home floor. The first half had me feeling exactly the way I did against Memphis, you know, not a good half but the opposition isn’t exactly great and if we just wake up in the third and play with a little bit of intensity and passion, we should be able to push this team around. Right? Wrong. This is what happened in the third quarter where we shot 25%. I haven’t seen so many jumpers since the three-point contest.

We shot too high of a percentage in the first quarter which always makes me nervous because it gives us a false sense of confidence, we start thinking that we can shoot like that all game long and our defense lets up because things are coming too easy on offense. Those percentages always even out and they did again last night. At the end of the first quarter we were shooting 60% and the Bucks were at 45%. By the end of the evening we were at 43% and the Bucks were at 47%. ‘Tis better to shoot consistently well rather than spectacularly in one quarter and flame out for the other three.

Andrea Bargnani went 5-7 for 13 points in the first quarter, he was receiving the ball at the top of the key/arc after the high screen and nailing his jumpers. He was shooting over Bogut, driving past Charlie V, and drawing fouls leaving the Bucks defense utterly confused as to how to stop him. Turns out we did the job for them, Bargnani did not attempt a single shot in the second quarter as the Raptors got outscored 25-17. He was taken out at the 3:15 mark of the first, brought back at the 8:37 mark of the second and taken out at 5:13 of the second for good. Is Triano alright? He had our hottest player play only 3:24 seconds in the entire second quarter? Insane coaching.

Bargnani was asked to close-out Ridnour

The defense was never great to begin with but with Bargnani out of the picture the offense dried up and we went back to seeing Chris Bosh try to draw fouls on jumpers by getting the defender in the air on pump-fakes. It worked in the second quarter but failed in the third and fourth, that’s how jumpers work. Charlie V and Francisco Elson must be laughing it up as Bosh tried to multi-fake them 18-feet out and try to draw contact against a vertical defense. The refs didn’t buy it and neither did the fans, he’s supposed to be the leader of the team and when he plays as passive as he did last night how can you expect anybody else on the team to be aggressors? A scout once said that Charlie V has more basketball sense than Chris Bosh. I agree and so do his seven ubiquitous turnovers agree. Elson was giving him the space up top and Charlie V was playing him tight in the block challenging Bosh to beat him for quickness. Bosh tried but failed and looked unsure, uncoordinated and unnatural in the process. That’s what a lack of a post-up game does to a player, it forces him to beat a player for quickness when he should be beating him for height and strength in the post. Everybody agrees that the +/- is a red-herring of a stat but Bosh’s game-high -18 says something.

Give credit to the Bucks, they’d lost 5 out of 7 and smelt blood coming into the building and why not. Ramon Sessions, Charlie Bell and Charlie V beat their man off the dribble all night long without the help of a pick forcing the Raptors defense to rotate, which it did to some degree. But after the second rotation you’ll end up having a matchup like Bargnani or Bosh trying to check a guard on the perimeter and if that guard decides to ball-fake and drive there’s just no way your defense can handle it. Case in point was Jermaine O’Neal unsuccessfully trying to guard Mbah a Moute one-on-one on the perimeter in the fourth quarter or Bargnani stepping out to close-out Sessions only for him to whiz past him as he’s coming out. Our perimeter defenders always over-commit on anything they’re trying to do, if they have to challenge a shot they’ll challenge so hard that a simple fake will get the defense a clean look. If they have to close-out their footwork and stance will be such that it’ll give the offensive player a clear path to the rim. Against an unmotivated team you might even get away with it but the Bucks meant business and we didn’t.

The other problem of course is the unnecessary shading. If Charlie V is catching the ball in the low-block, there is zero reason for the weak side defense to be out of position or lose track of their man. I lost count of how many cross-court passes were thrown by a Bucks post-up player for an open look on the weak side which invariably led to a score. Inexcusable and confusing stuff because we have no idea whether this is some sort of strategy to deter drives or just plain bad perimeter defense, nobody in the post-game interviews seems to ask that question. They did ask Triano about effort:

“I give them credit because they outworked us. We told our guys we can’t be outworked and we were. They’re a good defensive team, they locked our guys up. Jose Calderon couldn’t shake their defense and (Bosh) couldn’t shake their defense. We got behind and that was it.”

The Bucks came out with great intensity and effort in the third and went on a 13-4 run to start the quarter as Jefferson finally hit a couple shots. The Raptors were the complete opposite, we simply refused to drive the ball and settled for jumper after jumper, ending with a whopping 2 PINP in the frame. The plan at halftime was to get Bargnani involved and he came out looking for his shot but if you haven’t taken a shot for 40 minutes you’ll be cold. To his credit he tried to mix it up by going to the rim when his jumper didn’t fall and managed to throw off the defense which came to help but there were no offensive rebounders to take advantage of a scrambling Bucks defense. We’re dead last in the NBA in offensive rebounding and this quarter was an example of why – nobody wants to hit the glass. Even when Triano called a timeout to settle the team they came out shooting two straight jumpers which were missed. Nothing was working, it was as if they were shocked that the Bucks had dared to compete with them with Michael Redd being out.

SF on Bosh = Bosh neutralized

The Bucks never felt a need to double Bosh as Elson, Charlie V and Mbah a Moute were keeping him in check. This meant that somebody else needed to step up on offense and it wasn’t going to be Jose Calderon. Much like Bosh, his game is primarily perimeter oriented and if his off-the-screen jumper is working then the offense opens up but if he’s firing blanks he becomes a non-factor. He’s supposed to be the #2 scoring option on the team and he went 3-11. Still did a good job of sprinkling the shooters with the ball and racked up 11 assists but pulled back in transition too many times opting to go for a wing option rather than straight to the cup. It’s not like the Bucks were making a serious effort to get back, a little aggressiveness was needed and Jose didn’t bring it. Watching Ramon Sessions attack the paint you can’t help but feel that that’s an element of the game that Calderon needs to add to his arsenal before he is seriously talked about as “one of the best PGs in the league”.

The fourth quarter was pointless, the Bucks had built a 70-59 lead and the Raptors offense remained toothless. Our best weapon on the night was Jermaine O’Neal who finally figured out that Charlie V is too weak to defend his post-up game and went straight at him for 10 fourth quarter points. Unfortunately, Richard Jefferson, who had been quiet most of the night, knocked down key fourth quarter jumpers and Charlie V continued his assault against Parker, Kapono and Bosh by continually slashing and creating/scoring. Their big guns held down the fort for them, Chris Bosh and Jose Calderon had 2 and 3 fourth quarter points, respectively.

The only mini-run we made in the fourth was Bargnani hitting a three and then Calderon getting a mid-court steal for a layup. That cut the lead to 10 and got the crowd back into it but the Bucks responded quickly with a hard Bogut dunk after he cut and O’Neal/Bosh lost track of him. There were definitely a couple questionable calls in this game, Jermaine O’Neal was called for an offensive foul when Mbah a Moute was incorrectly adjudged to be outside the circle. O’Neal picked up a technical for arguing. Later on with the Bucks up 9 with 2 minutes left, frustration kicked in and he shoved a Buck after the fact, Charlie V took offense and after the double technical his night was over. He finished with a tidy 16 points (7-10 FG), 8 rebounds and 2 blocks, easily one of his best games this month. Should help the trade value.

A word about Charlie V. He seems exactly the player the Raptors need, an athletic scoring option that can slash. There’s no doubt he’s an inconsistent offensive player and that his defense is shoddy, but so was TJ Ford’s and so is Jermaine O’Neal’s. It’s a joy to watch a player when he’s playing hard and in the groove and he was in it tonight. He had a couple drives against a clogged paint tonight that he had no business finishing. He was emotionally into it and his aggressive play gave his team an example to follow.

One-Liners:

It seemed like Sam Mitchell was coaching this game.

Very disappointing result, especially on the heels of a 3-game winning streak. As always, just when you think this team might have an outside shot at showing some character and resolve they come out with a performance like this.

Jason Kapono played the first 9:13 of the fourth quarter and went 1-4. For a guy that’s put in entirely for his offense in a game he sure provide enough of it. I’m sure you can guess just how much he was exploited off the bounce in this stretch. BTW, our three main wings (Parker, Kapono and Moon) have the three worst PER48 PPG on the team.

Best Lineup: Kapono, Bargnani, Bosh, Calderon and O’Neal going +8 in a fourth quarter stretch. It’s mainly due to to O’Neal getting his scores one-on-one. Worst Lineup: Graham, Kapono, Parker, Bosh and O’Neal. -9 in the early second quarter where we went all jumpery.

Not enough is being done to make Joey Graham an effective player. We need to recognize that he has strength over players like Mbah a Moute, Charlie Bell and even Charlie V, something as simple as setting a screen for him on the elbow so he can slash to the block and catch the ball in the post would be nice. We saw it earlier under Triano and I have no idea why it doesn’t happen enough.

Has Chris Bosh checked out? I’d hate to think so but his play in the second half spoke of a man that didn’t seem to care much about which way the game went.

Jamario Moon played good enough defense to earn him a hate-free post, certainly played much better than Anthony Parker who despite all his recent successes cannot guard a player with a half-head of steam under him earning him a deserving -16. We need to trade him ASAP!

Roko Ukic and Will Solmon got the call, Triano tried everything he could to find a spark to light up this dead time and maybe find a defensive answer for the Bucks’ guards. Nothing worked. I have to give Roko credit for continually trying to drive the ball despite getting rejected almost 50% of the time he gets to the rim.

]]>https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2009/01/31/just-when-you-thought-wed-turned-the-corner/feed/63Raptors vs Bucks Stream, Chat and (Twitter) Bloghttps://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2009/01/05/raptors-vs-bucks-stream-chat-and-twitter-blog/
https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2009/01/05/raptors-vs-bucks-stream-chat-and-twitter-blog/#commentsTue, 06 Jan 2009 00:55:09 +0000http://raptorsrepublic.com/?p=3993LIVE CHAT IS HERE Stream #1 :: Stream #2 :: Stream #3 Follow us on twitter for live in-game updates and such: Raps shoot 55% and lose. Raps Fan will have the post-game report. about an hour ago Ukic did not play the final 3:56 after being red hot in the quarter. about an hour […]